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Wednesday, December 6, 2006

Senator Was Ready For Hunting, Not Bedtime

By Michael Coleman
Journal Washington Bureau
    WASHINGTON— Capitol Hill is a sleepy place when Congress is in recess, but Sen. Pete Domenici said he was working in a pair of hunting pants— not preparing for a nap— when Hill staffers spotted him in a Senate hallway Friday in what appeared to be pajamas.
    Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, reported Monday in its gossip column "Heard on the Hill" that Domenici was "wandering the halls of Senate office buildings in his jammies" on Friday afternoon, the last day of a two-week Thanksgiving break.
    The Roll Call piece sparked follow-up posts this week on several Internet blogs, including New Mexico Politics with Joe Monahan, The Raw Story and Wonkette, a Washington-based blog that bills itself as "politics for people with dirty minds."
    Domenici is an avid hunter. His red and white, buffalo plaid pants are designed to alert other hunters to his presence and not to camouflage him from his prey, usually quail, geese or ducks, aides said Tuesday.
    "It's a very functional pair of pants," the 74-year-old senator told the Journal, chuckling. "They're for hunting, but you can wear them for anything."
    Domenici, who lives only a block or so from his Capitol Hill office, described the pants to Roll Call as warm, fun, comfortable and "Christmasy."
    Office attire around Capitol Hill typically is much more casual during a congressional recess, with blue jeans and khakis— and hunting garb, apparently, in Domenici's case— more common than suits and ties.
    The senator was quick to point out Tuesday that unlike many members of Congress, who were relaxing at home on Friday, he was at the office working.
    "I work on recess all the time," Domenici said. "I call you on recess all the time."
    On Tuesday, Domenici attended a high-level meeting at the White House with President Bush and five other senators. The group discussed Iraq, and Domenici said he urged the president to use the energy bill approved in 2005 to develop more alternative fuel sources.
    The senator did not wear his hunting pants to the White House and he declined to pose in them for a Journal photo.
    "I'm not giving you a picture of them," Domenici said.

E-MAIL writer Michael Coleman